Comments for Back in the Blackhttps://cedbackinblack.wordpress.com
The CED blog about the Federal Budget Deficit, Spending and Taxes, and the National Debt.Fri, 04 Oct 2013 15:03:30 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/Comment on It’s Shutdown Time Again by Shutdown Status | Back in the Blackhttps://cedbackinblack.wordpress.com/2013/09/27/its-shutdown-time-again/#comment-2058
Fri, 04 Oct 2013 15:03:30 +0000http://backintheblackblog.org/?p=1221#comment-2058[…] shutdown,” as if to belittle it, because some federal employees are at work. But you are aware that the law has always held that employees who protect safety and property, or funded by […]
]]>Comment on That Bad Treasury Bond is Turning Up Again by Strike Up the Koto. The Kabuki Has Begun. | Back in the Blackhttps://cedbackinblack.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/that-bad-treasury-bond-is-turning-up-again/#comment-1973
Fri, 30 Aug 2013 13:48:10 +0000http://backintheblackblog.org/?p=1036#comment-1973[…] his healthcare law or suffer a government shutdown and/or a Treasury default (use of that term is controversial). Most Washington watchers would characterize either a shutdown or a default as an extreme […]
]]>Comment on Yet Another “Cliff” by Strike Up the Koto. The Kabuki Has Begun. | Back in the Blackhttps://cedbackinblack.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/yet-another-cliff/#comment-1972
Fri, 30 Aug 2013 13:48:04 +0000http://backintheblackblog.org/?p=1164#comment-1972[…] already have heard that the next fiscal cliff that we will encounter on our journey to Responsibility will come with […]
]]>Comment on The Misdirection Direction by Corporate Tax Reform: A Long Way to Go | Back in the Blackhttps://cedbackinblack.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/the-misdirection-direction/#comment-1931
Thu, 22 Aug 2013 17:44:27 +0000http://backintheblackblog.org/?p=1180#comment-1931[…] “public investment” spending that was alleged to increase economic growth. A recent CED blog discussed the spending components of the President’s package, which were a mixed bag, and did […]
]]>Comment on Yet Another “Cliff” by Falling With a Thud | Back in the Blackhttps://cedbackinblack.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/yet-another-cliff/#comment-1891
Fri, 02 Aug 2013 17:33:23 +0000http://backintheblackblog.org/?p=1164#comment-1891[…] we discussed last week, the House has agreed to honor the post-sequester overall discretionary spending cap; but […]
]]>Comment on Yet Another “Cliff” by Peter Cook - The Rock'n'Roll Business Bloggerhttps://cedbackinblack.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/yet-another-cliff/#comment-1886
Wed, 31 Jul 2013 09:59:12 +0000http://backintheblackblog.org/?p=1164#comment-1886You will enjoy our pithy rock anthem on the Fiscal Cliff http://humandynamics.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/fiscal-cliff/

The first time that John Maynard Keynes, Sub Prime and Quantitative Easing have appeared in a song! 🙂

]]>Comment on Yet Another “Cliff” by rambunctious X cantankeroushttps://cedbackinblack.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/yet-another-cliff/#comment-1884
Mon, 29 Jul 2013 04:38:55 +0000http://backintheblackblog.org/?p=1164#comment-1884thanks for this yeoman effort at illuminating the landscape
]]>Comment on Stimulus II: How (And How Not) To Do It by The Shadow Labor Force | Back in the Blackhttps://cedbackinblack.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/stimulus-ii-how-and-how-not-to-do-it/#comment-1812
Fri, 12 Jul 2013 13:47:29 +0000http://backintheblackblog.org/?p=693#comment-1812[…] if you were a construction worker, you had little hope of finding a job anywhere. As a recent post pointed out in a different context, employment in residential construction dropped by about 50 […]
]]>Comment on CED’s Way Forward by Hacim Obmedhttps://cedbackinblack.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/ceds-way-forward/#comment-1782
Fri, 07 Jun 2013 22:40:42 +0000http://backintheblackblog.org/?p=1095#comment-1782I totally agree. The SS retirement annuities should be run on an honest actuarially sound basis jby an independent agency. It should be just like the state and city and private retirement plans. It should be like a gigantic version of the TAA-CREF system the teach use or the Teamsters plan or it could simply be the kind of annuity that MetLife offers. Of course some of the money contributed would have to be used to pay premiums on life insurance for the surviving spouse and children of people who die young. Whatever happens it is very important that Social security and medicare should not be turned into means tested welfare programs. I personally am close to retirement and I have never taken welfare or charity and I do not want to start at the age of 65. It is just a matter of pride. They collected 6.25% of my paycheck every month for 40 years and they did the same (on my behalf) from my employers. We had a deal that I would get a certain retirement annuity in old age. All I want is what I paid for and not a dime more . If it is necessary to get some additional money to help old people who are very poor then that should be done with the regular tax money. They should not be raiding by retirement money.
]]>Comment on CED’s Way Forward by Kent Crawfordhttps://cedbackinblack.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/ceds-way-forward/#comment-1741
Tue, 28 May 2013 02:43:59 +0000http://backintheblackblog.org/?p=1095#comment-1741A more pertinent question is, why is Social Security even in the Federal Budget? Social Security was intended to be a self-funding trust supported by a designated tax. So logically, Social Security is not the government’s money to play with.

To fund the Great Society and the Vietnam War, LBJ broke the Social Security ‘lock box’ which contained the accumulating surplus, and basically stole the money. And no Congress or Administration since has had the intestinal fortitude to return the money and restore the Trust.

So the first step in any talk of ‘reforming’ Social Security must be to get the fund out of the hands of the Treasury department and Congress, set up an independent not-for-profit agency to manage the program, and of course return the stolen money…plus penalties and interest. Then Social Security is no longer a budget problem…